Matty Healy Slams Malaysia’s Anti-LGBTQ+ Laws and Says The 1975 Are Banned as Bassist Kisses Him Onstage

The band’s performance “had to be cut short due to non-compliance with local performance guidelines,” the Good Vibes Festival said in a statement

The 1975 won’t be playing Kuala Lumpur again anytime soon — and that’s fine by them.

During the alt-rockers’ performance at Good Vibes Festival in the capital city of Malaysia on Friday, lead singer and rhythm guitarist Matty Healy expressed his frustrations about the country’s LGBTQ+ restrictions and knowingly inviting the band to perform there.

“I made a mistake when we were booking shows, I wasn’t looking into it. I don’t see the f—ing point, right? I do not see the point of inviting The 1975 to a country and telling us who we can have sex with,” Healy, 34, told the crowd.

“And I’m sorry if that offends you and you’re religious, but your government are a bunch of f—ing…and I don’t care anymore. If you push I’m gonna push back. I’m not in the f—ing mood. I’m not in the f—ing mood anymore.”

(Homosexuality is illegal in Malaysia and punishable by imprisonment, while gender changes and non-conformity are not recognized, according to Equaldex and Outright International.)

The frontman continued, “Unfortunately you don’t get a set of loads of uplifting songs because I’m f—ing furious. And that’s not fair on you, because you’re not representative of your government. Because you’re young people, and I’m sure a lot of you are gay and progressive and cool,” he said.

Healy then revealed that the British band had backed out of their headlining festival slot on Thursday before deciding to proceed.

“I pulled this show yesterday and we had a conversation, we said, ‘You know what, we can’t let the kids down because they’re not the government.’ But I’ve done this before,” he said, referring to a 2019 incident in Dubai.

“I’ve gone to a country where it’s f—ing ridiculous, it’s f—ing ridiculous to tell people what they can do with that [points to crotch] and that [points to mouth]. And if you want to invite me here to do a show, you can f— off. I’ll take your money, you can ban me, but I’ve done this before and it doesn’t feel good. And I’m f—ed off,” he concluded.

Bassist Ross MacDonald, 34, then walked over to Healy and gave him a long kiss as their 2018 track “I Like America & America Likes Me” played. They finished the song and played another before Healy announced the band had to leave as they “just got banned from Kuala Lumpur.”

Related: The 1975's At Their Very Best Tour: Inside the Band's Fall Run

The Good Vibes Festival did not confirm the banishment, but did say in a statement that they “regret The 1975 had to be cut short due to non-compliance with local performance guidelines” before offering Friday concertgoers free entry to the rest of the festival this weekend.

Meanwhile, a source close to The 1975 told PEOPLE, “Matty has a long-time record of advocating for the LGBTQ+ community and the band wanted to stand up for their LGBTQ+ fans and community.”

Healy’s mother, British actress Denise Welch, was in full support, writing, “He’s my son 🌈” above a social media video of the incident.

Related: The 1975 Announce New North American Tour Dates for the Fall

This isn’t the first time the rockers have garnered attention for a same-sex kiss on stage in a country with anti-LGBTQ+ laws.

In August 2019, Healy had a “consensual” kiss with a male fan at one of The 1975’s concerts in Dubai — a city where homosexual acts are illegal and can be punishable by jail time and fines.

He wrote on Twitter at the time, “I don’t think we’ll be allowed back due to my ‘behaviour’ but know that I love you and I wouldn’t have done anything differently given the chance again.”

Healy later told The Times that he was subsequently threatened with arrest.

“They [the venue] had given me a list of s— that I couldn’t do and they said there could be no ‘gay propaganda,'” he told the publication.

“As soon as the big gay pride flag comes up in the show all the security guys come running down to the side of the stage, trying to pull us off it,” Healy continued.

“They were going to arrest me,” he claimed, adding that he was going to turn himself into the police. Healy later revealed that the group was able to leave the country that night at 5 a.m.

The 1975 are currently on the road in support of their latest album, Being Funny in a Foreign Language, and will return to North America for their second tour leg this fall.

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